Brandon Barker for Navas?

[Gundogan's Moustache]

All these people saying he's only 18 , Never played senior football blah blah. How old was Sterling when he made his debut against the champions. No ones saying start Barker against Chelsea just give him a chance if it's not working take him off its not like we're going to lose just because he started.

I'd start Barker , Ambrose and Angelino against Boro

 

[Damocles]

You think in the space of 6 years we should be turning around world class talent then?

I think in 6 years of unlimited funding we should have produced one player who is of equal or greater value to our squad as Scott Sinclair, yes.

And that's exactly it...they need to be world class talent if they are in with a chance of breaking into our first team

World class talents like Richard Wright, Willy Cabellero, Matilja Nastasic, Scott Sinclair, Bacary Sagna and Dedryck Boyata. Not forgetting the previous six years worth of world class talent like Adam Johnson, Jack Rodwell, David Pizarro, Owen Hargreaves, Stuart Taylor and the like?

My point is that you don't need to be world class to get into a top squad, especially if you're home grown. Unless we're calling Wes Brown world class

If they are good enough...they will get their chance

I literally said that people would say those exact words in my first post. It's a cliche, it means nothing, it's blind faith based on nothing at all.

 

[Neville Kneville]

Barker deserves a chance & I hope he gets it very soon indeed.

But a replacement for Navas ? No way. An alternative or an attacking option on the other side, definitely, but if Barker tried to do the job Navas does for City's team right now, he'd end up in hospital on a respirator.

 

[IanBishopsHaircut]

You think in the space of 6 years we should be turning around world class talent then?

I think in 6 years of unlimited funding we should have produced one player who is of equal or greater value to our squad as Scott Sinclair, yes.

And that's exactly it...they need to be world class talent if they are in with a chance of breaking into our first team

World class talents like Richard Wright, Willy Cabellero, Matilja Nastasic, Scott Sinclair, Bacary Sagna and Dedryck Boyata. Not forgetting the previous six years worth of world class talent like Adam Johnson, Jack Rodwell, David Pizarro, Owen Hargreaves, Stuart Taylor and the like?

My point is that you don't need to be world class to get into a top squad, especially if you're home grown. Unless we're calling Wes Brown world class

If they are good enough...they will get their chance

I literally said that people would say those exact words in my first post. It's a cliche, it means nothing, it's blind faith based on nothing at all.

Fact of the matter is

Football is about getting results

The same people saying give 'x y and z' youth players a chance against Middlesbrough will be the same people calling for Pellegrini's head should we lose

What do you think a Manager is going to do?

Aguero or Pozo?

Football isn't what it was even 10 years ago

How many youth academy players are playing in the first team of the top clubs in the UK?...or Europe?

The Beckham lot were a freak...All the top clubs churn out players but rarely do they end up at their own club

How many times do you hear commentators saying 'ex united youth player' etc etc...when talking about other less prestigious clubs

A tiny tiny percentage of our youth system may be in with a chance of making an impact

You mention all those players that play for..or who have played for City previously...How many youth players do you think could dislodge the squad players we have currently?

Just because they perform brilliantly for the EDS, doesn't mean it will translate to playing in the Premier League

Like Isaid before...neither you nor I can make that judgement...but i'm sure Viera and his coaching staff can

I'm all fo4r youth coming through...I'm just saying it's not that simple

 

[BillyShears]

People like to point at Soriano and Begiristan and declare we're the new Barca or that we're following their model. We're nothing of the sort, we're the new Chelsea. We talk about youth for 10 years and produce Michael Mancienne then buy in a better defender.

That isn't such a bad thing maybe. Chelsea are showing huge profits on a lot of those players which has been incredibly beneficial to them with regards FFP. We are doing what they did but on an even bigger scale and long term the benefits to us could be even greater.

I think in terms of actually producing players for the first team, I've said to before, but more than anything else it's a lottery. You invest in a whole heap of young players knowing that overwhelmingly vast majority won't make it at City, but you do it for the one diamond. Even if one of the current EDS or Under 18's team makes it as a first team regular at City whilst we continue winning trophies then that will be success in my eyes.

The romantic notion of a generation like the golden Barca one or the golden rags one is far more about luck then about design.

Agreed with all of that, though if we only get a single player into our squad from this exceptionally talented group of youngsters then we have failed. Let's remember that City went through a period between 2008-2012 of bringing in every top youngster that it could get anywhere near, and many of our players turned down moves to proven youth systems in order to gamble that we were as good as our word. Additionally, we have 0 homegrown players currently that aren't coat stands and the regulations require us to have some. We should be looking at filling those 4 spots in the squad from this generation and we could do it too without much hassle in my opinion. 5 or 10 games a season for a couple of kids isn't going to decide a title but it could provide an enthusiasm that our squad lacks sometimes as well as increasing internal competition.

Is there anything more exciting in football than watching a young homegrown lad get on the pitch and make a name for himself? It's the type of thing that lifts whole clubs when it happens, the fans are more enthusiastic, the players are more up for it, the whole place buzzes around. Sturridge did give us a bit of a lift when he broke through and linked with Robinho in that Blackburn game. SWP and Johnson were another pair who gave the whole club a little boost. Nothing drastic and major but just a bit more enthusiasm from all involved.

My gripe is that to win the lottery you have to buy a ticket and I'm not sure if that's what we're doing.

I see fully where you're coming from but the reality is it's much harder at the very top to integrate players because the pressure is much higher. I'm an old romantic so I can see where you're coming from and I'll be deeply disappointed if we don't see players coming through in the next two or three years - but at the same time unless the player is exceptional i'm not prepared to risk success on the pitch to blood a youngster for the sake of it.

Honestly it's hard to know when a player is good enough/ready anyway. From what I've seen of Barker, Kelechi, Lopes, and even Angelinho - I'd have them in the squad ahead of certain senior players, however the powers that be how make those calls haven't so far made them.

 

[franksinatra]

That isn't such a bad thing maybe. Chelsea are showing huge profits on a lot of those players which has been incredibly beneficial to them with regards FFP. We are doing what they did but on an even bigger scale and long term the benefits to us could be even greater.

I think in terms of actually producing players for the first team, I've said to before, but more than anything else it's a lottery. You invest in a whole heap of young players knowing that overwhelmingly vast majority won't make it at City, but you do it for the one diamond. Even if one of the current EDS or Under 18's team makes it as a first team regular at City whilst we continue winning trophies then that will be success in my eyes.

The romantic notion of a generation like the golden Barca one or the golden rags one is far more about luck then about design.

Agreed with all of that, though if we only get a single player into our squad from this exceptionally talented group of youngsters then we have failed. Let's remember that City went through a period between 2008-2012 of bringing in every top youngster that it could get anywhere near, and many of our players turned down moves to proven youth systems in order to gamble that we were as good as our word. Additionally, we have 0 homegrown players currently that aren't coat stands and the regulations require us to have some. We should be looking at filling those 4 spots in the squad from this generation and we could do it too without much hassle in my opinion. 5 or 10 games a season for a couple of kids isn't going to decide a title but it could provide an enthusiasm that our squad lacks sometimes as well as increasing internal competition.

Is there anything more exciting in football than watching a young homegrown lad get on the pitch and make a name for himself? It's the type of thing that lifts whole clubs when it happens, the fans are more enthusiastic, the players are more up for it, the whole place buzzes around. Sturridge did give us a bit of a lift when he broke through and linked with Robinho in that Blackburn game. SWP and Johnson were another pair who gave the whole club a little boost. Nothing drastic and major but just a bit more enthusiasm from all involved.

My gripe is that to win the lottery you have to buy a ticket and I'm not sure if that's what we're doing.

I see fully where you're coming from but the reality is it's much harder at the very top to integrate players because the pressure is much higher. I'm an old romantic so I can see where you're coming from and I'll be deeply disappointed if we don't see players coming through in the next two or three years - but at the same time unless the player is exceptional i'm not prepared to risk success on the pitch to blood a youngster for the sake of it.

Honestly it's hard to know when a player is good enough/ready anyway. From what I've seen of Barker, Kelechi, Lopes, and even Angelinho - I'd have them in the squad ahead of certain senior players, however the powers that be how make those calls haven't so far made them.

Without doubt the league games the team is under pressure and the dropping of points in one or two league games can have profound consequences in our ability to win the league. However the game in question is against a Championship side and without being disrespectful to Boro if we do lose this game it will not be due to the blooding of one youngster but a failure by the senior professionals.

In a lot of instances a the only way to determine if a player is good enough if by giving him an opportunity and seeing how he performs in front of a large potentially critical crowd, under pressure and against experienced professionals. Other clubs are benefitting from be it Spurs with the development of Kane, Bentaleb, Liverpool Sterling, Everton Stones, Barkley. Arsenal, numerous players. At some point we have to take a leap of faith on young players produced through the academy and give them a platform for their talents.

The number of occasions we have been 3 or 4 nil up at home over the past couple of years and either have not had a young players on the bench or chosen not to give them the game time they deserve and then when we are shorn of all our players we chucked Pozo on the side, with all the responsibility. To those who say we cannot change the youth team in 6 years, the youth team was in a good positon prior to the takeover, the four years previously we have reached the Youth cup final on two occasions.

 

[g180aj]

That isn't such a bad thing maybe. Chelsea are showing huge profits on a lot of those players which has been incredibly beneficial to them with regards FFP. We are doing what they did but on an even bigger scale and long term the benefits to us could be even greater.

I think in terms of actually producing players for the first team, I've said to before, but more than anything else it's a lottery. You invest in a whole heap of young players knowing that overwhelmingly vast majority won't make it at City, but you do it for the one diamond. Even if one of the current EDS or Under 18's team makes it as a first team regular at City whilst we continue winning trophies then that will be success in my eyes.

The romantic notion of a generation like the golden Barca one or the golden rags one is far more about luck then about design.

Agreed with all of that, though if we only get a single player into our squad from this exceptionally talented group of youngsters then we have failed. Let's remember that City went through a period between 2008-2012 of bringing in every top youngster that it could get anywhere near, and many of our players turned down moves to proven youth systems in order to gamble that we were as good as our word. Additionally, we have 0 homegrown players currently that aren't coat stands and the regulations require us to have some. We should be looking at filling those 4 spots in the squad from this generation and we could do it too without much hassle in my opinion. 5 or 10 games a season for a couple of kids isn't going to decide a title but it could provide an enthusiasm that our squad lacks sometimes as well as increasing internal competition.

Is there anything more exciting in football than watching a young homegrown lad get on the pitch and make a name for himself? It's the type of thing that lifts whole clubs when it happens, the fans are more enthusiastic, the players are more up for it, the whole place buzzes around. Sturridge did give us a bit of a lift when he broke through and linked with Robinho in that Blackburn game. SWP and Johnson were another pair who gave the whole club a little boost. Nothing drastic and major but just a bit more enthusiasm from all involved.

My gripe is that to win the lottery you have to buy a ticket and I'm not sure if that's what we're doing.

I see fully where you're coming from but the reality is it's much harder at the very top to integrate players because the pressure is much higher. I'm an old romantic so I can see where you're coming from and I'll be deeply disappointed if we don't see players coming through in the next two or three years - but at the same time unless the player is exceptional i'm not prepared to risk success on the pitch to blood a youngster for the sake of it.

Honestly it's hard to know when a player is good enough/ready anyway. From what I've seen of Barker, Kelechi, Lopes, and even Angelinho - I'd have them in the squad ahead of certain senior players, however the powers that be how make those calls haven't so far made them.

Angelino is definitely not ready, out of the players mentioned without seeing them in the prem I'd only trust lopes in a premier league game. Barker needs to be tested in a cup game though.

 

[SuperSilva21]

I've watched Brandon Barker sail through the age groups with absolute ease, the higher level he plays the better he becomes and I have no doubt he'll get in the first team and do the same! not this season but from next season I can see it happening!

The lad is class! very much like Adam Johnson in style....... Only good! ;)

 

[Manchester33]

Maybe put him on the bench for the Middlesborough game and if we're comfortable with 20 mins to go bring him on. He isn't big enough yet to make any dent on a serious first team push and doesn't have the experience required to be a top striker, the best possible option for him right now would be to see this season out in the U21's with the odd squad appearance for the first team and then to get a loan move abroad where he can gain experience or in the lower leagues like Devante Cole.

With forwards, like Pozo, it's not as bad because they don't have to do as much work, but for a winger it could be the difference between winning and loosing depending on how the other team plays.

 

[Paulmcfc2703]

I hope this lad gets his chance. What is the worst he can do?

Not take his defender on and hit the first man with every cross. We have all seen that plenty of times this season already